The Role of Technology Enhanced Learning and its Global Impact on the Higher Education Sector.

yesThe delivery of higher education, as with many aspects of society in general, is becoming increasingly shaped by the availability of the Internet in our everyday lives. Associated with the growth in Internet availability, web 2.0 technologies have become increasingly popular over recent years, especially with the `Google Generation¿, a term used to describe those brought up with the Internet. The exploitation of such tools has led to the widespread take-up of social networking sites, the growth in blogging and twitter, and the adoption of wikis and social media sites for the sharing and publishing of content. The opportunities introduced by technology enhanced learning (TEL), and in particular web 2.0 tools and applications, are now starting to attract significant interest from within the academic community. The lecture begins by describing the advances in digital communication technologies that are allowing new approaches to teaching and learning to be investigated. A review of how technology is currently employed in higher education then follows, before proceeding to outline the latest developments associated with web 2.0 tools and applications and the opportunities these present. A review of significant findings from within the academic research community is then given. To conclude, an assessment of what are the likely drivers that are creating a need for change within the higher education sector is presented before outlining the implications of introducing TEL from the perspectives of both students and teaching staff